On the afternoon of December 8, 2022, China International Trade Representative and Vice Minister of Commerce Wang Shouwen met with Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Director-General of the WTO, who attended the Seventh "1+6" Roundtable in Huangshan, Anhui, China.

Wang Shouwen pointed out that the Chinese government has been committed to the work of the WTO. At the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, it was emphasized that China will uphold true multilateralism and give better play to the role of multilateral mechanisms such as the WTO. In his speech at the G20 Bali Summit, President Xi Jinping stressed the need to safeguard the multilateral trading system, actively participate in WTO reform, and push for trade and investment liberalization and facilitation. Premier Li Keqiang met with Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and exchanged views on the work of the WTO.

Wang Shouwen said that a package of agreements was reached at the WTO’s 12th Ministerial Conference (MC12) this June and the parties need to actively implement the outcomes of the meeting. The Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies need to be ratified in an early date and consultations on the IPR exemption for the Covid-19 treatment products should be conducted. Efforts should be made to restore normal operation of the dispute settlement mechanism and enable more concrete results in WTO reform. China will, as always, support and actively engage in the work of the WTO, making contributions based on its own economic development stage and capacity. The current tendency of unilateralism and protectionism in the global economic and trade area is worrying. China expresses deep concerns about the economic and trade policies and measures recently adopted by some of the members, and hopes that the WTO will contribute to an open, transparent and predictable international trade order.

Iweala said that China has always been an important force in safeguarding the multilateral trading system, and plays an active and constructive role in the work of the WTO, especially in reaching the package of deals at the MC12. She expressed hopes that China will continue to lead in implementing the MC12 outcomes and promoting WTO reform. Iweala opposes cutting off chains and decoupling, which are detrimental to the world economic development, and calls for more cooperation among major members.

After the meeting, Wang Shouwen and Iweala signed the 10th Memorandum of Understanding of the China Program, which aims to help LDCs integrate into the WTO rules system through the Secretariat's internship program, LDC Roundtables, South-South Dialogue, etc.

(All information published on this website is authentic in Chinese. English is provided for reference only.)